Tossing firebombs, protesters advanced upon police lines Thursday in Ukraine's embattled capital. Government snipers shot back, killing at least 70 people and wounding hundreds of others, according to a protest doctor.

Video footage on Ukrainian television showed shocking scenes today of protesters being cut down by gunfire, lying on the pavement as comrades rushed to their aid. Trying to protect themselves with shields, teams of protesters carried bodies away on sheets of plastic or planks of wood.

One of the wounded, volunteer medic Olesya Zhukovskaya, sent out a brief Twitter message - 'I'm dying' - after being shot in the neck. Dr Oleh Musiy, the medical coordinator for the protesters, said she was in serious condition after being operated on.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS

Shocking footage has emerged of protesters being shot by sniper fire

One clip begins with protesters advancing as a group behind shields

Suddenly several members of the group are sent sprawling, appearing to have been shot

The protesters' shields and helmets are in no way adequate protection against sniper fire and they are sent into a panic

Protesters form a protective shield against the wounded

Some of the protesters on the video appear to have been shot dead, while others are clearly badly hurt and shaken

Protesters were also seen leading policemen with their hands held high around the sprawling protest camp in central Kiev. Ukraine's Interior ministry says 67 police were captured in all - it was not clear how. An opposition lawmaker said they were being held in Kiev's occupied city hall.

President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition protesters who are demanding his resignation are locked in an epic battle over the identity of Ukraine, a nation of 46 million that has divided loyalties between Russia and the West.

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Parts of the country - mostly in its western cities - are in open revolt against Yanukovych's central government, while many in eastern Ukraine back the president and favor strong ties with Russia, their former Soviet ruler.

Protesters across the country are also upset over corruption in Ukraine, the lack of democratic rights and the country's ailing economy, which just barely avoided bankruptcy with a $15billion loan from Russia.

An anti-government protester shoots an improvised device during clashes with riot police in the Independence Square

Riot police fire at anti government demonstrators on the Independence square in Kiev

An Orthodox priest walks under fire during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in central Kiev

Escalation: A protestor takes aim with a double-barrelled shotgun during the clashes

Anti-government protestors have been seen with civilian firearms, such as rifles and shotguns

The opposition is insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and an early election while the embattled president is apparently prepared to fight until the end

Refuge: Activists have a rest at the burning barricades, on the side of bloody clashes close to Independence Square, the epicentre of the country's current unrest

Rioters hold a captured police helmet, apparently covered in blood

Anti-government protesters take cover while under fire reportedly of police sniper fire

Armed: An anti-government protester holds a shotgun as he mans a barricade on the outskirts of Independence Square

A protester prepares to hurl a cobblestone at police

Resistance: Activists prepare to push forward during continued clashes with police

Activists try to protect themselves from fire as they clash with security forces

A protest doctor told AP that at least 70 protesters were killed Thursday and over 500 were wounded in the clashes - and that the death toll could well rise further

Live rounds: A protester holds a cartridge and two empty cases he found during clashes with police in central Kiev on Thursday

At least 101 people have died this week in the clashes in Kiev, a sharp reversal in three months of mostly peaceful protests. Now neither side appears willing to compromise or in control of the streets.

The opposition is insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and an early election while the embattled president is apparently prepared to fight until the end.

Thursday was the deadliest day yet at the sprawling protest camp on Kiev's Independence Square, also called the Maidan. Snipers were seen shooting at protesters there - and video footage showed at least one sniper wearing a Ukraine riot police uniform.

Musiy, the protest doctor, told the AP that at least 70 protesters were killed Thursday and over 500 were wounded in the clashes - and that the death toll could well rise further.

There was no way to immediately verify any of the death tolls. Earlier in the day, an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies of 21 protesters laid out near Kiev's protest camp.

The White House expressed renewed outrage Thursday over the continuing deadly violence in Ukraine but had reached no decision on whether to impose sanctions.

Military action by the U.S. is not among the options being considered, deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said.

'The options available to the president are being considered with some urgency,' he told reporters, adding that sanctions were the only measure under active consideration.

In Brussels, the 28-nation European Union decided Thursday in an emergency meeting to impose sanctions against those behind the violence, including a travel ban and an asset freeze against some Ukrainian officials.

President Barack Obama discussed the situation by telephone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said.

The White House has urged President Viktor Yanukovych to withdraw forces from downtown Kiev immediately.

Defeated: Captured police officers are led away by the protesters

Earnest said the Ukrainian government has the primary responsibility for keeping the peace, but that the Ukrainian people must also respect their right to peaceful protest. He said 'having those rights trampled' is a source of some concern to the U.S. and again called on the government and the opposition to negotiate a political solution to restore order.

'Basic human rights that we hold so dear in this country are not being respected in that country,' Earnest said.

Although the first weeks of the protests were determinedly peaceful, radical elements have become more influential as impatience with the lack of progress grows. In their battles Thursday, those hard-hatted protesters with makeshift weapons regained some of the territory on the Maidan's fringes that police had seized earlier in the week.

One camp commander, Oleh Mykhnyuk, told the AP that protesters threw firebombs at riot police on the square overnight. As the sun rose, police pulled back, protesters followed them and police then began shooting at them, he said.

The Interior Ministry warned Kiev residents to stay indoors Thursday because of the 'armed and aggressive mood of the people'.

Neither
side appears willing to compromise, with the opposition insisting on
Yanukovych's resignation and an early election and the president
apparently prepared to fight until the end.

Amid
the carnage, signs were emerging that Yanukovych is losing loyalists as
the crisis roils. The chief of Kiev's city administration, Volodymyr
Makeyenko, announced Thursday he was leaving Yanukovych's Party of
Regions.

‘We must be guided
only by the interests of the people, this is our only chance to save
people's lives,’ he said, adding he would continue to fulfill his duties
as long as he had the people's trust.

Another
influential member of the ruling party, Serhiy Tyhipko, said both
Yanukovych and opposition leaders had ‘completely lost control of the
situation.’

‘Their inaction is leading to the strengthening of opposition and human victims,’ the Interfax news agency reported.

In
a statement Thursday, Yanukovych claimed that police were not armed and
‘all measures to stop bloodshed and confrontation are being taken.’

As
the violence exploded and heavy smoke from burning barricades at the
encampment belched into the sky, the foreign ministers of three European
countries - France, Germany and Poland - met with Yanukovych, after
their meeting with the opposition leaders.

European Union foreign ministers, meanwhile, have agreed to move ahead with imposing sanctions including visa bans and asset freezes on those responsible for the violence in Ukraine, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said on Thursday.

Speaking as she left an emergency gathering in Brussels, Bonino said the position had been agreed with the French, German and Polish foreign ministers, who are currently in Kiev negotiating with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

'The decision is to proceed very rapidly, in the next hours, to a visa ban and asset freeze on those who have committed the violence,' she told reporters.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, arriving for the EU meeting, condemned the killing of more protesters in Kiev, calling it ‘utterly unacceptable and indefensible.’

Protesters burn as they stand behind barricades during clashes with police on Thursday

Recovery: Anti-government protesters get some rest inside a building in Independence Square on Wednesday

Russia criticised the European actions, calling them 'blackmail' that would only make matters worse.

The White House urged Ukraine's president on Thursday to immediately withdraw security forces from downtown Kiev and respect the right of peaceful protest after a truce fell apart and the death toll mounted.

'We are outraged by images of Ukrainian security forces firing automatic weapons on their own people,' White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

The United States, which has called for sanctions, already has cancelled the visas of several Ukrainian officials connected with the police violence.

The
latest bout of street violence began Tuesday when protesters attacked
police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of
ignoring their demands to enact constitutional reforms that would limit
the president's power - a key opposition demand. Parliament, dominated
by his supporters, was stalling on taking up a constitutional reform.

In
a statement early Thursday, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said 28
people have died and 287 have been hospitalised during the two days of
street violence. Protesters who have set up a medical care facility in a
downtown cathedral so that wounded colleagues would not be snatched by
police at the hospital say the number of injured are significantly
higher - possibly double or triple that.

Yanukovych claimed Thursday that police were not armed and 'all measures to stop bloodshed and confrontation are being taken.' But the Interior Ministry later contradicted that, saying law enforcers were armed as part of an 'anti-terrorist' operation.

The parliament building was evacuated Thursday because of fears that protesters would storm it, as were the government office in Kiev and the Foreign Ministry buildings. But parliament convened in the afternoon, with some pro-government lawmakers heeding the opposition's call to work out a solution to the political stalemate.

As the violence exploded Thursday morning and heavy smoke from burning barricades at the encampment belched into the sky, the foreign ministers of three EU countries - France, Germany and Poland - met with Yanukovych for five hours after speaking with the opposition leaders. The EU ministers then returned to speak again with opposition leaders.

Leaving in protest: Ukrainian skier Bogdana Matsotska speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the Sochi Games

Prior to the clashes Thursday, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said 28 people have died and 287 have been hospitalized this week. But protesters who have set up a medical facility in a downtown cathedral so that wounded colleagues would not be snatched away by police say the number of wounded is significantly higher - possibly double or triple that.

The Caritas Ukraine aid group praised the protest medics but said many of the wounded will need long-term care, including prosthetics.

The clashes this week have been the most deadly since protests kicked off in November after Yanukovych shelved an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. Russia then announced a $15billion bailout for Ukraine.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin was sending former ombudsman Vladimir Lukin to Ukraine to act as a mediator.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will 'try to do our best' to fulfill its financial obligations to Ukraine, but indicated Moscow would hold back on further bailout installments until the crisis is resolved.

'We need partners that are in good shape and a Ukrainian government that is legitimate and effective,' he said.

At the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Ukrainian alpine skier Bogdana Matsotska, 24, said she will not take part in Friday's women's slalom due to the developments in Kiev.

'As a protest against lawless actions made toward protesters, the lack of responsibility from the side of the president and his lackey government, we refuse further performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games,' her father and coach, Oleg Matsotskyy, wrote in a Facebook post.